Scarica sintesi e traduzione seminario inglese 1 e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Cultura Inglese I solo su Docsity! “Black Man Runnin and It Ain’t from the Police”: Rap Music, Political Endorsement and Black Identity 1. Introduction In a 1996 song called Changes, the late rapper Tupac Shakur, talking about America, said: “and although it seems heaven sent, we ain’t ready to see a black president”. This was the case until November 2008, when the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States has made Martin Luther King’s dream come true. In the months leading up to the election, many African American rappers endorsed Obama’s candidacy, giving rise to a new Hip Hop genre called Obama Rap. 2. Barack Obama: the first “Hip Hop President”? The attention the Hip Hop community devoted to Obama dates back some time before his historical presidential election. Hip Hop artists all over the East and the West Coasts were riding hard for the Democratic candidate: a 1984 song from rappers Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel was devoted to the Reverend Jesse Jackson, leader of the Rainbow Coalition and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. However, Hip Hop artists never fully invested in Jackson’s candidacy. The political scenery has changed thirty years later, with rapper Snoop Dogg. Describing Obama as having “the right conversation”, Snoop Dogg not only grasped his linguistic ability to styleshift, but also his ability to reach multiple audiences at once. Obama himself contributed to his own emergence as a Hip Hop byword. The future President demonstrates his familiarity with Hip Hop culture, but he also walks the tightrope, making evident his criticism about the potentiality of Hip Hop message. By using the term “art”, Obama reveals his respect for a culture that continues to be misunderstood and misinterpreted in the mainstream. That Hip Hop is an art is obvious to many African Americans, but not to public discourse. Obama seems to be the first politician to reframe the debate about Hip Hop as a discussion about an art, a culture deserving respect. Barack Obama also showed his ability to combine ‘White syntax’ with ‘Black style’ putting most Americans at ease: more than any other cultural symbol, his linguistic flexibility allowed Americans to simultaneously “Whiten”, “Blacken”, “Americanize” and “Christianize” the black candidate for president in the eyes and ears of both Black and White Americans. Thus, a good number of rappers offered their support for Barack Obama through their songs, uncommon behaviour in a genre rooted in antipathy toward the political establishment. Rap music is not only a sociological mirror of society, and its relationship with politics has always been controversial, as stated by scholars and rappers. Not surprisingly, many rap songs include explicit lyrics against the Establishment, like “Fuck tha Police!” (N.W.A. 1988), “Fight the Power!” and “Don’t Believe The Hype!” (Public Enemy 1988), “Throw the Constitution Away!” (Ice-T 1989), “Let’s Gang Bang on The System!” (Dead Prez 2001), through which rappers have distanced themselves from the values of the dominant forces, from The Power, hence from politics. "Black Man Runnin e non è dalla polizia": Rap Music, Endorsement politico e Black Identity 1. Introduzione In una canzone del 1996 intitolata Changes, il defunto rapper Tupac Shakur, parlando dell'America, ha dichiarato: "e anche se sembra che il cielo sia inviato, non siamo pronti a vedere un presidente nero". Questo è avvenuto fino a novembre 2008, quando l'elezione di Barack Obama come 44 ° Presidente degli Stati Uniti ha reso il sogno di Martin Luther King diventato realtà. Nei mesi precedenti alle elezioni, molti rappers afroamericani hanno appoggiato la candidatura di Obama, dando vita a un nuovo genere Hip Hop chiamato Obama Rap. 2. Barack Obama: il primo "Presidente Hip Hop"?
